


In This Together

by Vyce



Category: Borderlands
Genre: AU, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, First attempt at an mpreg fic, Fluff, Jack isn't a total asshole, M/M, Mpreg, god it's horrible, i don't know how this is even physically possible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 16:43:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6432319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vyce/pseuds/Vyce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a strange wave of nausea, Rhys finds himself unexpectedly taking something meant for those with XX chromosomes: a pregnancy test</p>
            </blockquote>





	In This Together

_"Hey... I'm right here with you. I'm not goin' anywhere."_

 

It would have been just like any other morning; the soft illumination of sunlight through the blinds, the quiet atmosphere save for a clock or two ticking, the lazy movements of post-slumber... but something was different. Oh, indeed, it was very different, for the sunlight was absent as a result of black-out curtains, there was a low whirring sound coming from somewhere and all clocks were digital, and movement was rather quick as Rhys had risen from someone else's bed to run to the bathroom, stricken with nausea.  
After the horrid scene of throwing up into a toilet, Rhys sat on the cold tile floor against the wall, taking deep breaths in hope of it both calming him down and lowering his temperature, his skin glistening with sweat.

_'How bizarre... I haven't thrown up since that time Yvette made me chug Jägermeister three years ago... Did I eat something bad last night?'_

Rhys tried to think of potential causes to this, zoning out and forgetting to get off the floor. He'd considered last night's supper, but that wouldn't make sense - everyone else ate the same thing and they were all fine. He considered drinks, something in the air, a delayed viral illness or stomach flu, even sex itself... yet it all seemed unlikely. 

_'Maybe I'm just dying... I'll have a heart attack in ten minutes and wind up dead on a bathroom floor. Maybe it's all in my head.'_

He rested his hand on his stomach, feeling another wave of nausea ripple within. 

_'No, that's definitely real...'_

He sighed and pushed himself up, grabbing the edge of the sink to steady himself, staring into the mirror. He looked otherwise healthy, except for the red-tinged skin around his eyes and pallor from loss of fluids in his body.   
Rhys turned the taps and filled his cups hands with water, splashing it onto his face a few times before leaving the bathroom, the ends of his messy hair curling from the water that had hit them, strands falling into his face to frame it.  
Rhys glanced over at the sleeping body on the bed before tip-toeing out of the room and into the kitchen. He checked the fridge for water or juice, but it was instead littered with alcohol and instant meals, and surprisingly, a few necessities, but none of which did he think he could stomach. He signed deeply and resorted to tap water, taking a seat at the island counter and sipping slowly.   
Again, Rhys thought of all the possible reasons behind his upset stomach before a figurative light switched on in his head and he froze, letting the thought settle in his mind for a moment before getting up and quietly re-entering the bedroom. He searched for his clothes that had been strewn about on the floor, getting dressed and running out the door with the keys he found hanging in the front hall. 

In the nearest pharmaceutical store, Rhys paced back and forth in the sixth aisle, eyeing all the selections on the shelf before him, brows knitted together in both determination and disbelief. He noticed someone enter the aisle, and they were watching him. Under pressure, he shakily grabbed a box that contained multiples of what he was looking for, and took off to the front of the store.

 _'I can't fucking believe I'm doing this...'_ Rhys thought as he hastily set the bright pink box on the checkout counter, shifting his weight from foot to foot before also grabbing a box of Gravol from the tiny shelf on the counter. He avoided eye contact with the cashier as the items were scanned and he paid for them.   
A quiet 'thank you' and a near stumble later and Rhys was back out of the store and sitting in the black and yellow car he'd driven there. He exhaled slowly, dropping the bag in the passenger seat, hands on his thighs as he stared mindlessly out the front window. Unexpectedly, Rhys felt a familiar yet uncommon sinking feeling in his stomach as tears welled up in his eyes.

 _'What am I doing?'_ he mentally asked himself, grabbing the steering wheel tightly before asking himself aloud, "What's wrong with me?"

Rhys swallowed repeatedly and blinked rapidly until the tears dissipated and he started the engine, driving back to the big house he'd come from. Upon arriving, he'd entered quietly, hoping the older man was still asleep; it was quiet enough that he'd believed that were the case. He brought the bag with him into the second bathroom, emptying its contents into the sink. He first took a pill to ease his nausea, then opened the other box. Another deep breath later, Rhys removed one of the test strips and its tester and unfolded the instruction sheet.  
In big capital letters on the top, it seemed to scream at him: PREGNANCY TESTER. Rhys read everything as quickly as he could, then followed directions and set up the tester, reading the instructions again before performing the test. He sat on the edge of the bathtub after, bouncing a leg incessantly as he waited impatiently. 

"Ten minutes," he sighed, checking the time on his phone. "Ten long, painful minutes."

Indeed, ten minutes seemed like a lifetime, and Rhys didn't have a lifetime to wait. He avoided looking at the test in his hands until that time was up, anxiously swallowing repeatedly, his mouth gone dry.   
Ten minutes on the dot, Rhys put down his cellphone and slowly flipped the tiny length of plastic over. Two pink lines. Rhys nearly dropped the test as he lost his balance and slid off the edge of the tub, falling to the floor as he stared in complete and utter panic. His hands shook as he blinked and held the strip closer to hise face. There were definitely two pink lines visible. 

_'No... no no no, this can't be right. I ca-... I can't...'_

Without any level of caution, Rhys quickly pushed himself off the floor and headed into the kitchen, trying to prepare himself a large cup of strong coffee to use as a diuretic for another test. He nearly dropped a cup and knocked over several small items on the counter as he rushed to grab what he needed, and hoped he was using the coffee maker properly. 

"Come on..." Rhys mumbled to himself as he stared at the coffee maker, waiting for it to drip into the seemingly normal black mug he had placed beneath the spout.   
As soon as the cup filled, Rhys grabbed the cup, a bit of coffee spilling out as he moved it over to pour milk in. Bitter as it was, he started to down it, just barely swallowing fast enough.  
Just as he'd swallowed the last drop, Rhys looked at the cup to see it wasn't plain at all, but in fact had white text on it that felt like a slap in the face: #1 Dad. He set the cup down louder than intended, cursing and glaring at it on the counter, questioning if his mind was playing tricks on him until he remembered a daughter being mentioned by the owner of the cup.   
Sitting down at the counter again, Rhys held his head in his hands, pulling on his hair. Thoughts raced through his mind as he sat quietly, reminding himself to breathe, waiting for the caffeine in his system to kick into gear.   
Soon enough, another trip to the bathroom was in check and just as Rhys stood up, he had heard the water from a shower start in the direction of the bedroom. He quickly put the mug in the dishwasher and went back into the other bathroom.  
Fifteen minutes later, a second test had been taken. Rhys checked it again, crossing his fingers and hoping for a negative... yet two pink lines again showed up. The anxiety really sunk in now as he began to breathe too quickly, gathering everything and shoving it back into the box so fast he had ripped the box. He carried it out to the living room area, sitting on the couch with one knee tucked against his chest as he chewed nervously on a fingernail, waiting. 

Stepping out of the shower, Jack quickly towel-dried himself off before slipping on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. He watched himself in the mirror as he rubbed his head with the towel to dry his hair a bit before smoothing his hand through it to get the long strands out of his face. He grinned before leaving the bathroom, tossing the towel into the open hamper on his way out. Jack glanced at the empty bed briefly before exiting the bedroom as well. 

"Where's the pretty boy?" he asked, seeing the brunet in question on the white couch. Rhys felt his heart race as Jack walked behind him into the kitchen area, hearing the coffee maker turn on again.

As Jack rummaged through the kitchen rather loudly, Rhys tried to fight the wave of emotion building in his chest, though he was failing. He clenched his fists tightly, nails digging into his flesh hand as he continued to wait. 

"Did you sleep okay?" Jack's voice made him jump. "Rhys?" 

_'Fuck... He knows. He knows something's up. Make something up, Rhys.'_

With a coffee cup in hand, Jack stepped around the island and walked over to the couch, cautiously sitting next to the silent younger man. He looked at Rhys as though he was searching for something. He observed his rigid state, the slight tremble in his hands, the lip biting... 

"Is something wrong?" 

The question cracked Rhys like a hammer to glass and tears once again formed in his eyes and fell, unable to stop them this time. He clenched his jaw, teeth firmly pressed together to at least hold back the sounds. 

"Rhys, hey-" Jack rested his free hand on Rhys' arm, rubbing it, confused to Hell with what was bothering the other. He'd never seen him cry before. "What's wrong? Talk to me. Did I do something, Rhys? Did I hurt you, or.. did something happen? Nightmare? Break something?"  
"Jack..."

With tears streaming down his face, eyes red, Rhys looked at the older man beside him, trying to mentally prepare himself in record time for the atrosity he was about to bring up. It didn't help that the other man had been staring at him dumbfounded and still as a statue, waiting for him to say something. 

"...I'm pregnant." 

Jack felt his heart skip a beat as he froze, unblinking. He slowly pulled his hand back, smiling for a split second. He sipped his coffee, nearly choking as he chuckled. 

"Rhys, you can't be pregnant, you're a guy." he said, hoping they could laugh this off and pretend Rhys wasn't delusional, but no smile came from the other.   
"I know. Jack, I know, that's why I'm..." Rhys' heart raced faster and his breath hitched. "I-I took tests, okay, and I've been throwing up and I just-"  
"Wait, you took a test? Where'd you.."  
"I went to the store earlier. I took your car. They all said positive a-and I'm panicking because this isn't normal and I don't know what to do, and-"  
"Slow down!" Jack yelled, smoothing the hair out of Rhys' face a moment later before resting his hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure? Isn't there, like, some medical wiki that says if a guy takes a test and it's positive, he has.. you know..."  
"Don't, don't say it, Jack. I don't have cancer. But I was thinking about it, and I have symptoms of pregnancy, like the morning sickness and the moodiness you've been witnessing and... Here." 

Rhys retrieved the two tests from the box at his side and showed them to Jack, who stared at them like they were ticking bombs. He took them from Rhys and looked back and forth between the two, reading the tiny print that read "Positive" next to a picture of two parallel lines, the tiny screen matching the diagram. He nearly spilled his coffee as he zoned out, blinking to bring himself back to reality and setting the cup down on the glass table in front of the couch.

"Oh my God." Jack mumbled as he slowly looked back up at Rhys, not realizing what his expression must have looked like as Rhys had returned the gaze with a look of terror.   
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jack, I never meant for this, I... Please don't hurt me, we can fix this," Jack reached for Rhys's face. "N-no, no don't, Jack-"   
"Hey... hey!" Jack had dropped the tests and held Rhys' face in his hands, keeping from looking away. When the brunet stopped trying to pull away, Jack exhaled slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you, you idiot. And there's no "fixing" to be done," he said the word with deteste, "We're in this together. I'm here with you, and I'm not going anywhere." 

Jack wiped away the tears under Rhys' mismatched eyes with his thumbs, tilting his head and consciously softening his features as he kissed Rhys so gently, he wondered if he'd even made contact. 

"Come here..." he said as he outstretched his arms. Rhys fell into them, hugging Jack tightly and crying into his shirt. "For your own safety, I'm taking you to a doctor later. Because let's be honest, pumpkin, it isn't normal that your test is positive, seeing as you're a man. Unless there's a chromosomes thing orrr... Shit. If you really are... uh... then I'm on board, kiddo."   
"Don't call me that," Rhys chuckled in between sniffles. "You can't be calling me a kid if I'm having one."   
"Aww... Gotcha, cupcake." Jack said as he ruffled Rhys' hair. "A kid... if this is legit, we're gonna have a kid. How fucking crazy is that? Huh? I mean I don't even know how you're gonna.. like, get it out.. but damn, Rhys. A goddamn kid. You know I like you, right? It's ridiculous to say but I really do. And we've been doing this for awhile, right?"

He laughed and held onto the younger man tightly, trying to imagine how this would all turn out in nine months. He thought of his past and the unspeakable things he had done to Angel.

"I swear I'll be a better father than I ever was before... _mom_." 

Rhys chuckled again and hit Jack in the arm, looking up at him. "Daddy."  
"Oh. Nuh uh, Rhys, you're gonna have to call me that realistically now. Because I am a dad, Rhysie, and only the kids can call me that. And you're mom. Mama. Mum. Mommy. Motherrr."

Rhys fell into a fit of laughter as he slid down on the couch, head resting in Jack's lap. 

"Rhys... We're doing this together. Okay?" Jack stared down at Rhys, who smiled up at him a moment later.  
"Okay."

**Author's Note:**

> I've never been able to grasp the concept of "mpreg" or male pregnancy. It's physically impossible with cismen but I tried to write something with it anyway. Perhaps if I continued with this (which I probably won't unless you request it?), I could do some research on it and decide what's going on with Rhys that would make this possible. Also, that #1 Dad cup is a reference to an Xnalara prop I was going to use in a render. Hope you enjoyed this terrible little crack!fic.


End file.
